Australians love a drink, and some see no problem at all with drinking to excess. But now doctors, police and paramedics have called “time”, warning that alcohol-fueled violence has reached crisis levels.

Read the statistics and it’s hard to argue with these dire warnings. The latest figures show that each year as many as 70,000 people are involved in alcohol-related assaults.

In all, it is estimated that alcohol-related violence costs the community $187 million each year. Four Corners also reveals there’s a growing body of evidence that shows a link between binge drinking and brain damage.

While the overall incidence of alcohol-related violent crime varies in each state in Australia, one thing is clear: the violence associated with alcohol abuse is getting more extreme.